<p>@CE527M Oh, I see. Well, I don’t think I’ll be going to West Point or ROTC anytime soon then, lol.
Speaking of the three subject tests, is it okay for me to take them in November 2015 if I’m applying EA?</p>
<p>@APUSHmeoffacliff I love your username hahah. Gosh, I hated my APUSH class and teacher. Both of them can go die. (It was literally hell)
What I am worried about is the drop in the GPA my sophomore year, and whether or not I should be more involved in my community since most of my ECs are school- or politics-related.
Just chanced you.</p>
<p>@alyson1188 I read your situation and I think colleges will definitely be sympathetic. I think school/politics related EC aren’t that bad and can be considered part of the community. Either way, your ECs are stellar and nothing to be worried about. Thanks! </p>
<p>@alyson1188 Georgetown’s website says this about subject tests: </p>
<p>"*Notice to Early Action Applicants: Given the Early Action deadline of November 1, the Committee on Admissions recognizes that applicants may not be able to meet the SAT Subject Test requirements. Those candidates are welcome to submit an Early Action application, and the application will be considered complete and reviewed in its entirety. Candidates applying under the Early Action plan who have not yet taken three Subject Tests should still register to take the tests in the event they are deferred from Early Action to Regular Decision."</p>
<p>@CE527M Yeah, I’ve seen that before, but GU has a way of eloquently phrasing statements that makes them super ambiguous and hard to understand (at least for me, anyway). Although GU will accept scores sent after Nov. 1, I feel like the Admissions Team will defer the applicant until they receives his or her 3 SAT II scores. In other words, my chances of getting in via EA will, technically, be lowered if I send my scores late. Is this just another crazy, caffeine-dependent student’s rambling, or do you think that it’s true?</p>
<p>And thank you, for being so patient with me and answering all my questions. I know I’m not the brightest pea in the pod out there, so thank you for helping me.</p>
<p>This is assuming your have a really good explanation for sophomore year:</p>
<p>Georgetown: high match
West Point: it’s hard to chance and I don’t really know much about it. I had a friend who went there and I remember him telling me how many hoops he had to jump through to get accepted. Oh, and the acceptance rate is 9%. High match also, maybe?</p>
<p>I think that OP has dropped interest in West Point. Still, I would like to note that the acceptance rate at West Point is actually more like 20% to 25%. All of the service academies, including Navy and Air Force, count incomplete applications plus even ROTC applications (which often do not apply to the academy) among their total applications. This is how they get an acceptance rate down to below 10%. Yes, I know it sounds deceptive, and probably is, but comparing acceptance rates at the academies to acceptance rates at civilian colleges is a classic apples to oranges comparison.</p>
<p>NROTCgrad: Could you please post a source for your statement that all the SAs count ROTC applications in their total applications? I knew they counted incomplete applications but this is the first I’ve heard about “ROTC applications (which often do not apply to the academy)” being included.</p>
<p>It is possible that only USNA does this, but considering that USMA and USAFA have nearly the same numbers otherwise, it would be surprising if they do not count ROTC applicants. In other words, I could be wrong about USMA and USAFA (but maybe not). Also note that the Coast Guard Academy is reported as only counting completed applications. Then again, it does not a require congressional nomination. USCGA acceptance rate is about 16%.</p>
<p>Thanks! I think you’re probably correct about USAFA and the USMA using the same counting methods. The following quote was from the article that you so kindly provided: “West Point and the Air Force Academy, which use similar counting methods…” Thanks again!</p>
<p>For what it is worth, private universities are frequently rigging a number which is even more important. That number is the student/faculty ratio. Many, if not most, private universities calculate that number by dividing the total number of undergraduate students by the total number of professors. State universities, in contrast, use the total number of ALL students (graduate plus undergraduate) and divide that total by the total professors. This is a major discrepancy, and can often only be corrected by digging (relatively deeply) into the “common data set” for each university.</p>
<p>A frequent CC contributor pointed this out to me a few weeks ago. I looked into it. Lo and behold he was correct – with every private and state university which I looked at. The two universities that I remember were Duke and U.Michigan-Ann Arbor. Duke claims a student/faculty ratio of only 7 to 1. If you calculate the Duke ratio the way Michigan does then it comes out very close to 12 to 1, which is nearly identical to U.Michigan. (Oddly, Michigan claims their ratio is 15 to 1, but Forbes gives the number as 12 to 1. My calculation was also 12 to 1. Maybe Michigan was being honest and counting only professors who actually teach.)</p>
<p>Among other things, this shows you one reason why U.Michigan is such an outstanding state university. By way of comparison, Ohio State University has a ratio of 19 to 1, and many state universities are above 25 to 1.</p>
<p>Anyhow, when you see student/faculty ratios down well below 10 to 1, be suspicious. Probably not true. This number is important because it tells you how much individual attention that a student is likely to get and also how large the class sizes might be. Student/faculty ratio is a far more important number than the admissions rate.</p>
<p>@alyson1188 no, I think you’ll be fine; to be safe, I would explain why in the “additional comments” section of the app if that section is available, otherwise don’t worry about it :)</p>
<p>Your ECs are great, and your test scores look good too. I think you’d have a great shot at Georgetown. It would be a reach but definitely attainable. Also you might want to consider Boston College. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Your ECs are great, and your test scores look good too. I think you’d have a great shot at Georgetown. It would be a reach but definitely attainable. Also you might want to consider Boston College. Good luck!!</p>